Relief
by laurzz
Summary: DannyLindsay. Post ep for 7x21 "As soon as his eyes fell on her, relief washed over him." Please note: Potential spoilers inside for finale. Proceed with caution folks.


**A/N: Second A/N as I'm not sure where the other one disappeared to... OMG, OMG, OMG! HUG! HUG! DANNY LINDSAY HUG! How much love for the episode did I have? Well, for the DL scene. Everything else is still a bit fuzzy. I think I need to re-watch properly, but here nor there. **

**Please proceed with caution... I've got some spoilers in here for the finale from the very beginning. I don't want to spoil any of you whom wish to remain spoiler free, so please proceed with caution. Consider this as your lights and sirens. **

**Huge thank you to EVERYONE who read, and even bigger one to those who reviewed last chapter! Your thoughts were as always appreciated! I'll edit later and add your beautiful faces, but I just want to get this A/N up about the spoilers!**

**Hope you enjoy this one!**

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><p>He'd been in the elevator, on his way up to tell her. Tell her how he thought things had gone. How all of her help had paid off. How her constant testing, retesting and encouragement had most probably gained him what he'd been so desperate for, for so long. How her bitching when he was tired and had decided against his decision, had kept him on track... He was willing to bet he owed this achievement solely to her belief in him; but surely that wasn't a surprise.<p>

When he stepped off the elevator, he could see her. Some file on her hand, clearly on a mission. _For a change,_ he'd mused. And then he heard that first gunshot; then another and another... and then fifty more. His heart stopped. Instant reactions pulled him back into the elevator and his hand slammed the emergency button. Why, he wasn't sure. No good would have come from such an action, but in his panic mode, it had made sense. He'd also done a good job of jamming the doors open so he could offer shelter to others, and keep himself safe, yet aware of what was going on.

Lindsay. Fuck. Lindsay was by the window. She was in the way; she was so damn close to the tirade of bullets. He had to do something. But how? If he moved, he'd probably get hit, knowing his luck. He was Karma's bitch; and judging at how well his exam had just gone, there wasn't no way in hell that he was jinxing himself. Not after everything that they'd been through.

But there was no chance in hell that he was going to stand by on the sidelines and watch Lindsay be a victim to the same fate he'd faced not even two years ago.

As he took a deep breath to make his move away from his safe haven, he had taken a moment to cast his eyes at the chaos going on in the lab and his heart stopped dead in his chest. Mac was on the move... but where was he going? Tears pricked in his eyes as he watched his boss grab his wife and physically pull her to her feet and drag her from harm's way.

Relief washed over him. She was safe. Mac had saved her.

She'd be okay, and so would he, after he wrapped his arms around her. Tightly.

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><p>She hadn't known what had hit her. What did she do? What was she supposed to do? Did she protect her head? Her face? Her back? Chest? Stomach? Why had she walked towards the reign of bullets? She was nearly at the end of the hallway, why did she go back on herself? Oh God, Lucy. Her baby, Lucy... she needed her little girl in her life, and she needed to be in her daughter's life. Where was Danny? She was sure that he would have been back by now. She hoped to God he was safe; that he'd been held up elsewhere.<p>

_Please stop,_ she'd whispered, praying that the constant blast of bullets ceased.

And that's when she felt two strong arms tugging her from her position on the floor. It was like God himself had sent Mac Taylor to whip her right out of the predicament she'd found herself in. She'd been too scared to move, figuring a moving target was just a challenge waiting to be accepted. But Mac... Mac had pulled her to safety.

She hadn't really trusted her voice to say anything more than what she said to Mac. She was speechless. She couldn't even thank him for his selflessness. She wanted to cry at his actions, his thoughtful actions, but she was just in shock. After the few moments that Mac had hung onto her for, she took a deep breath and went off in search of someone who needed help; just like she had moments previous.

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><p>"Excuse me, sir? Sir!"<p>

Danny turned dramatically, "What?" he barked out.

"Sir, you can't be up here! You're gonna have to come with me."

Despite the chaos in the lab, Danny took a good long look at the uniformed police officer stood in front of him. "What?"

"You have no business being up here, this is a crime scene."

"I'm with the crime scene, moron," Danny implored. "Danny Messer, part of Mac Taylor's team?"

"You got some identification?"

Rolling his eyes, Danny flashed his badge and identification. He eagerly accepted the Kevlar being handed to him from another officer. "Am I good to go?"

The young uniformed officer was being tugged in another direction before he even had the chance to offer an apology, but had he been given the chance, it would have fallen on deaf ears regardless. Danny Messer had one target; Lindsay Messer.

His heart was beating a million beats per minute, desperate to find her. He desperately needed to catch some glimpse of her. After Mac had let go of her, she had scurried off, no doubt looking to see where she was most needed. He needed to find her. He knew that she'd be worried sick, as was he.

"Mac!" Danny called out to his boss. "Mac, where is s-"

"Ballistics," he replied instantly, clasping a hand on Danny's Kevlar clad back. "You be careful."

"You too," Danny replied before jogging over the shattered glass. He knew he owed his boss a huge, huge thank you, but right now wasn't exactly the best time or place. Not to mention he had other things on his mind.

As soon as his eyes fell on her, relief washed over him. He'd known she was okay, thanks to Mac, but he'd needed that validation for himself. The 'honey' that passed through her lips had filled him with anxiety. Her tone told him she was scared. Strike scared, his wife was terrified. He'd only ever heard her that scared when she'd felt the blood on his back in the bar shooting. Things were different this time though. This time, he _could _ease those fears; he could stand in front of her, hug her and promise her that everything would be okay. The second he wrapped his arms around her, he knew it'd be extremely hard to let her go. Through his shirt, he could feel her heart racing like his, her's if not quicker. She was stiff, she was clearly stressed, and she was damned scared. But as soon as he tightened his arms around her, he felt her relax, if only for a moment, there was that reprieve that he'd wanted. That validation right there in front of him that she was okay.

But then she pulled away and he saw the blood.

His heart sank.

_No, _he cried inwardly. _No, she couldn't be hurt. No. God, no. _

"It's not mine," The words were music to his ears. Although with his first glance, he'd expected the worse but after closer examination, it was obvious Lindsay wasn't cut. Anywhere. How, was beyond any realms of his own understanding, but karma was on his side for once.

He took her image in and tried to regain the steady pace of his heartbeat. Thank God she was okay. Thank Mac she was okay. Because honestly, had even the smallest shard of glass sliced her skin, he would have been beside himself; ready to kill whoever had done this with his bare hands.

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><p>Her eyes glazed over once she'd seen him walking towards her. Walking. Relief had surged through her. He was okay and she was okay. Whatever else they had to deal with in the aftermath of the destruction of the lab was fine.<p>

When he'd hugged her, she had to fight her tears with all of her might. Her hand had instantly gone to the point that she knew so well on his back. Her fingertips fumbled with the Kevlar for a few moments before she realised that he was okay. No blood. No bullets. Nothing. Just him. Just Danny, her concerned husband, making sure she was okay.

When she snapped at him about the blood on her chest, she hadn't meant to; it just happened. It was a trivial thing. It wasn't her's and he had no reason to worry about it. She had bigger and more important things that she needed to say. Like how much she loved him, and how glad she was that he was okay, but she couldn't. Expressing those emotions to him right now was too much; she was too overwhelmed with the whiplash of events she'd just been faced with. Even when he asked her if anyone was hurt bad, she couldn't go there... because she didn't know. She didn't want to know. She couldn't bear the thought of any one of the people that she worked alongside with going through anything remotely similar to what she and Danny had gone through not even a year ago.

Business needed to come first. There would be time later to catch her breath and really let a tear or two fall; but she needed to keep that level head. "What do you know?"

He shared everything that he'd managed to pick up in his journey from the elevators to her but the conversation was simply a blur to her. She didn't really know why she asked him what he knew, because all she cared about was one, his wellbeing and two, finding a starting point amongst the chaos to begin the evidence collection.

It was going to be a long day; that much she was sure of.

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><p>Things. Hadn't. Stopped.<p>

Lindsay felt like her feet hadn't touched the floor since Mac had pulled her to his chest in the hallway as they dodged the seemingly never ending spray of glass and bullets. Both she and Danny had worked around the clock to find leads, go over evidence, go out in the field to find the evidence...

She'd heard at some point during yesterday that there was something about Danny getting pinned down by Internal Affairs about a shooting, and then as soon as she'd heard that, she'd been told that it was deemed as a clean shoot. And in all honesty, she didn't even care. Her emotions were literally all over the place, and she was getting to the stage where coffee was no longer working to keep her somewhat functioning, and neither was the drive to find the person that had done this to them. To all of them.

"Lindsay!"

She turned, tears coupling in her eyes as her eyes fell on the tired form of her husband. "Danny," she whispered, slowly making her way towards him.

He stretched his arms out, similar to how he used to when their baby girl was learning how to walk. He'd meet her more than half way with his arms, letting her simply think she was doing the work, but if she fell, he was there to catch her.

She almost collided with his chest, using him to lean against as she buried her face in his shirt, inhaling his scent as she squeezed his torso in her arms tightly. The image that he had walked away from the attack on the lab unscathed had been her motivation all day. But that image ran out about an hour ago, and she had desperately needed to see the real thing.

"Mac told us it's time to go," he whispered after a few moments of reflection and comfort for himself. "No arguments apparently."

"What happened with... with everything." Her eyes and emotions were too heavy to list all the people that had been hurt through the duration of the past few days.

"It doesn't matter right now," he whispered. "Let's just go."

Now usually, Lindsay Messer would argue with her husband, however tonight, the battle was a one-sided affair. She had no will left to fight with and was more than willing to just surrender to the arms that she'd wanted to find herself in all day.

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><p>All of the Avalanches were on loan by the time that they'd reached the parking garage, resorting in the two of them catching the subway home. Lindsay, for the beginning of the ride had felt herself falling asleep against his chest as he held her close. They opted against sitting in one of the some fifty seats that were free out of a need for the closeness that the other one provided them with. He needed to touch her, as she did with him.<p>

Her hand was placed firmly on his back the entire ride. She was careful not to grip to his shirt though, because as much as she wanted that feeling of possessiveness, the action itself brought her too many memories.

"I've only got the scar there," he whispered into her ear. "Nothin' else."

"I'm just using your back for support," she lied, wrapping her arm around his lower back. "See."

"Mhmm, sure." He smiled down at her, taking the close proximity to press a kiss to the tip of her nose. "You forget that I know every little thing you do. Look, come here, give me your hand."

She hesitated, which just gave Danny more ammunition. He took her now shaking hand and pulled out his shirt from where he'd tucked it in with his jeans. His hand directed her's up past the material, and together they slid their hands underneath his wife beater. He then left Lindsay to do her own detective work. She ran her fingertips over his marred skin. The scar was still there, yes, but it wasn't joined with any new injuries.

"Better?" he inquired as a sigh of relief passed her lips.

She nodded against his chest, leaving her hand resting on top of the tight skin of his back and the scar that worked as a reminder to their ordeal they'd survived.

"I told you, I'm not goin' anywhere, and neither are you, okay? You got that?"

She nodded, taking the quiet subway train as an opportunity to unload some of the emotions that were weighing her down. "I froze," she whispered. "I just froze."

"It's okay baby," he whispered against her temple. "I know you did, but it's okay, Mac saved you... and it was a good job he did, cause otherwise it would'a been my ass sprintin' across the lab, pulling you to safety. He was closer, so I figure it was a good deal all round."

"Danny, it's not funny," she cried. "I shouldn't have froze, I shouldn't have just laid there."

"And what should you have done?" he implored. "Stood there and took the bullets like a man? The best thing you could have done other than not be in the vicinity of the building was to lie low."

"But if Mac hadn't had grabbed me, that glass..."

"Would have fallen to the ground," Danny finished. "I know, if you had still been there it would have fallen on top of you, but it didn't, and you know why?"

She shook her head.

"Because it wasn't meant to, you weren't supposed to get hurt there. Things happen for a reason. Mac was right there and he made that selfless choice to save you, and probably saved my ass in the process too. That glass didn't fall on you because Mac was supposed to save you."

"I love you," she whispered. "So much Danny, I don't know what I would have done if I had lost you, or if you had gotten hurt or if-"

"Living on the what if side of life never got us anywhere, honey. I love you, but you need to trust me when I say that it's okay, We're okay. Nothing bad happened and you know what, a good shower and a huge cuddle from that beautiful baby girl that you and I somehow managed to create, will make all of this seem so insignificant."

"I don't think so," she whispered.

"I do," he returned the low whisper as he tucked his index finger underneath her chin, lifting her line of sight to meet his. "You're okay Lindsay. You're safe. I'm safe. We're okay. There's nothing that you need to worry about okay."

"I do need to worry though, Danny... what about the lab? So much is ruined, and Stacey, she got shot... and then there was Elliot with the cut that I helped him with. And then there's Mac's office... all of Mac's office is just-"

"You know what though Lindsay, none of that matters." Danny cut her off.

"It does matter," she insisted. "Stacey matters, Elliot matters, Mac's office matters."

"No, none of that matters to me,"

"It should matter!" she growled at him.

"I feel bad for Stacey and Elliot, but they'll be okay Linds, you know that. And as for Mac's office, we can run him down to Staples and I'll personally buy him a new desk."

"I know but, everything just... everything matters Danny. Everything is ruined."

"It doesn't matter," he repeated, "Do you know how long it took me to realise that?"

"How long?"

"The amount of time it took for that first bullet to leave that gun and shatter the glass that was so close to where you were. The fact that you're okay means everything to me, Montana. Nothing else matters."

"You called me Montana," she smiled up at him.

"You're always gonna be my girl," he assured her. "Whether I'm callin' you Montana, baby, or the pain in my ass."

The last term of endearment earned him a healthy thwack to the arm.

"But even when you're the pain in my ass, I love you. Things might be hectic in our lives babe, and we may be pelted with bullets from time to time... but for each and every second of that, I love you with everything I've got, so you hang onto that and remember that, okay?"

She nodded tearfully against him, simply burying her head against his chest in response; no words strong enough to convey what she wanted to reply with.

"I love you," she muttered against his chest. "And I'm glad you're okay," she added.

"C'mon," he whispered, taking her hand and tugging her towards the doors of the slowing subway train.

"We're two stops from ours, what are you doing?"

"Let's walk the rest," he said, leading her off the train and onto the platform.

"I'm tired though," she whispered meekly. "I just want to go home."

"And we will," he promised, "We'll go at your pace. I just wanna walk with you, spend more time with you, and just you, give myself some time to appreciate the fact that you're safe."

"I guess I can't really deny you that," she shrugged as he began to lead her up the stairs, leading to the street. Her fingers were now tightly coiled around his in a vice grip, unwilling to let him slip from her grasp.

"Promise me when we go back to work everything's gonna be okay?"

"I can't promise that things will be okay, sweetheart, but I can promise you that they're gonna get better."

"How?" she implored "How can you promise me that?" she sniffled, her steps in sync to his.

"How?" he smiled. "Because I've got a bit of news for you that I kept quiet."

Despite her physical and emotional exhaustion, she smiled. "You're pregnant!"

"You got me!" he gasped in mock delight. "Surprise!"

"Seriously, what's this news?" She questioned.

"Well, you know my exam?" Danny began. "I'm pretty sure I aced it." He smiled proudly. "All because of you."

"Seriously?" she gasped, stopping dead in her tracks. "Danny, seriously?"

"Seriously." He nodded. "Honestly."

It took every last piece of energy that she had, but she threw herself against Danny, wrapping her legs around him and squealed with delight as he gripped to her waist protectively, accepting the shower of kisses she was offering him.

"I'm so proud of you!" she cried. "Danny, that's... that's exactly what I... what we needed. Honey, I'm... I'm so proud. When will you, you know, find out?"

"Soon," he replied, pressing a kiss to her nose. "I wanted to tell you earlier, but I haven't had a spare second."

"Sargant Messer, I'm so proud of you." She whispered. "So proud,"

"Hey, come on... I've not got it yet," he reminded her. "Don't get your hopes up."

"Hope is seriously what I need right now," she told him as her feet finally found the floor again. "And you gave it back to me... what a surprise," she smiled at him. "Seriously Danny, I love you, and I'm so damn proud of you."

"I'm proud of me too," he admitted. "Now come on, let's go home." He said, wrapping his hand around her's.

Even though the past few days had shaken their very core, they could already see the light at the end of the tunnel. They were beginning to realise that no matter what obstacle they were up against, so long as they were together, they could get over anything. And that provided them with a hell of a lot of hope that things would be okay; no matter what.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading guys! I hope you liked. I apologise for mistakesthings not making sense, it's nearly 6am and I'm dying over here! Huggles - Laurzz! **


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